CH413 Fortress Climax II

***

"Princess, heads up—hostiles incoming." Alex announced cheerfully over comms.

"And why, exactly, are you happy about that? Shouldn't you be concerned for my safety?" Eleanor replied dryly.

"You'll keep her safe, right, Fen?" Alex asked through their bond.

Bark! (Of course!)

"Well, Fen said he'll protect you. I trust him." Alex said. "Besides, you're not a damsel in distress, are you? I'd gladly rush over… if you admit you are."

Eleanor rolled her eyes beneath her veil.

"Don't worry. I already have a big, strong knight right here who'll defend me." She murmured, rubbing Fen's head affectionately.

The fortress troops—who earlier had nearly evacuated their bowels at the hellhound's mere presence—stared in shock. The same monstrous beast that made men faint with terror was now wagging its tail like a pampered house dog because its 'mistress' gave it head pats.

Their fear of Fen did not diminish.

Instead, their fear of Eleanor skyrocketed.

After all, anyone who could tame such a dread creature… was clearly a monster themselves.

Jokes aside, Eleanor found herself surprisingly calm on the battlefield. She understood why Alex joked with her; he didn't want her nerves shaken before the clash. But he needn't have worried.

Like the not-so-creative pet name he gave her, she was an Imperial Princess of House Ludevicus. She would disgrace herself if she trembled before a group of opponents of equal rank—warriors or not—especially with all the protective measures Alex had placed around her.

"Fen, should we try that?" Eleanor suddenly asked, eyes glinting as she saw the hostile force approaching.

Bark! (Yes!)

Mana began gathering in Fen's maw as he prepared to unleash a breath attack. As the energy peaked, Eleanor placed her palm against his back, infusing her Solar mana into the flow.

Fire and light mana surged, flocking eagerly toward Fen's mouth.

And just as Sub-commanders Franklin and Rodan arrived with their men—

Fen fired.

[Sunfire Flame Blast]!

Initially, when the two Sub-commanders saw the wolf preparing an attack from afar—and having already deduced Fen was still at the Intermediate (Silver) rank—neither Rodan nor Franklin took him seriously.

But when Fen fired his attack, both men's eyes widened in horror.

A massive cannon-like blast of Sunfire—far beyond anything they expected—roared toward them.

'We can't defend that!' they realised instantly.

Instinct overrode pride. Both men leapt aside, barely escaping the blazing torrent by a hair's breadth.

Their accompanying unit of twenty men, however—including five Silver and seven Bronze-ranked officers—were not so fortunate.

The Sunfire blast annihilated everything in its path. Soldiers, armour, buildings, stone roads—all melted into glowing slag.

Rodan and Franklin stared at Fen and Eleanor, their faces pale with shock and fear. Just as they braced for Fen to unleash another devastating attack, they noticed something:

Fen looked… weak.

He wobbled unsteadily, struggling even to keep Eleanor seated on his back.

Eleanor's eyes widened in confusion. She quickly checked on him, already gathering mana to cast a rejuvenation spell.

'Of course. He fired beyond his limit.'

'He must be weakened!'

"Charge before he recovers!" the two Sub-commanders realised simultaneously.

They dashed toward Eleanor and Fen at full speed.

Rodan unleashed a sharp sword-energy attack, forcing Eleanor to abandon her spell and instead raise a radiant protective barrier before the strike landed.

At the same time, Franklin completely abandoned his defence. He poured every drop of his energy into his sword, determined to kill Fen in a single, decisive blow.

He leapt high, blade raised overhead, ready to cleave down upon the direwolf-sized beast.

But just as he descended, he caught the expression on Fen's face—

A cunning smirk.

The 'weakness' vanished like an illusion.

A chill shot down Franklin's spine.

Then he saw dark silhouettes rising atop the buildings behind Fen and Eleanor, each holding a strange contraption pointed directly at him.

The shadows fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bolt after bolt slammed into Franklin—and even Rodan behind him—blasting both men backward violently.

They took the hits full on.

Rodan had just released an attack and had no stance to defend.

Franklin, having deliberately forsaken all defence for his killing strike, was in an even more vulnerable state.

Still, the two men survived—thanks only to their armour. However, they were far from fine.

Rodan was half-kneeling beside Franklin, who had been blasted backward into him after taking the brunt of the shots. Rodan had two bolts lodged deep in his torso, while Franklin had three embedded in his chest and abdomen.

Rodan instinctively reached for the bolts embedded in his own flesh, but the moment he tugged, he realised the nefarious projectiles were twisted inward. Pulling them out carelessly would only make the bleeding worse—perhaps fatally so.

Worse still, Franklin's condition was spiralling rapidly.

He had been struck at the exact moment he was gathering his energy to its peak. That power now rampaged uncontrollably inside his body, tearing apart his meridians and organs on top of the trauma from the bolts.

He needed treatment immediately—from a priest, or at the very least a trained doctor.

But how could a predatory beast like Fen possibly allow that?

The cunning wolf took the brief moment of their incapacitation to gather another surge of fire-mana in his maw.

[Flame Blast]!

Fen unleashed another jet of roaring flames.

Rodan could only watch helplessly as the inferno engulfed both himself and Franklin.

"Arghhhhh!!!"

Their screams echoed across the battlefield as they burned alive.

The reason Fen chose to operate in his fire-type black wolf form—rather than his preferred white frost form—was directly tied to Eleanor's affinity.

One rare, highly sought-after ability of exceptionally talented Healers like Eleanor was their capability to enhance energy-type abilities and spells simply by introducing their mana into the attack. However, this amplification only worked on spells or abilities that shared the same elemental nature as the healer.

Most healers never possessed this trait. They didn't need to. But for someone like Eleanor, it made for a powerful trump card.

Since she would remain mounted on Fen throughout the siege, Alex instructed Fen beforehand to assume his black fire-wolf form—matching one half of Eleanor's Solar (fire-light) elemental nature—allowing them to take advantage of these enhancements as needed.

One of the reasons the Fortress troops mistook Fen for a 'hellhound' was precisely because of the blistering heat of his flames—the result of Eleanor's subtle amplification.

But even that paled compared to the devastating Sunfire blast he had unleashed earlier against Rodan and Franklin.

"Finish them off," Eleanor ordered calmly.

The Fury crossbowmen took aim and fired, ending the two men's misery with clean shots.

"Two Gold ranks, eliminated," Eleanor reported over comms.

She patted Fen's back lightly, and together they moved swiftly toward another section of the battlefield—seeking comrades in need of healing.

***

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